


What Happens in Limbo...

by Lizzy_Writes



Category: Z Nation (TV)
Genre: 10k’s not over... all of season 3, Angst, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Protective Siblings, Siblings, addys not over lucy’s Death, doc helps 10k too, doc is 10k’s adoptive dad and I love it, there’s a little Murphy angst too, they help each other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-11
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 10:44:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,084
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17385026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizzy_Writes/pseuds/Lizzy_Writes
Summary: Warren sends Doc and 10k back to Limbo to meet up with Addy and Murphy. Doc quickly realizes there’s more to 10k’s sullen mood than only the loss of his hand.Cue Doc being a dad and Addy being a sister.(Takes place in season 5 between episodes 10 and 11)





	What Happens in Limbo...

**Author's Note:**

> I got a request to do a season 5 fic where 10k isn’t taking care of himself and some of the group take care of him. 
> 
> It ended up getting a little more angsty than that and I threw in some Addy angst as well. I love two apocalyptic surrogate siblings. 
> 
> Enjoy! If you have any ZN requests you can send them my way on tumblr at lizzysong! (Seriously, please send me your requests. I always need new prompts to write)
> 
> Until the next fic!
> 
> -Lizzy

“Keep an eye on him, Doc,” Warren had said, pulling the older man aside after telling him and 10k to go back to Limbo. She’d been worried about the boy since he’d found the group and told them what had happened to him... and Sarge. 

“Always do, Chief.” Doc gave her a small smile, though she could see the worry in his eyes. 

10k hadn’t been himself since he’d returned to the group, and though his mood had improved with the antler prosthetic that Ayalla had given him, it had been a temporary improvement and he soon returned to being quiet and almost sullen.   
________________

“You okay, Kid?” Doc asked carefully, glancing over at the boy sitting in the passenger seat next to him. 

10k had been silent for some time, staring down at his bandaged arm, having taken off his antler prosthetic. “...Huh?” he asked, slightly startled, and turned to look at Doc. “Oh. ...Yeah, I’m fine. I just...” he trailed off and looked back down at the bandages covering the still gruesome looking wound. 

“I know,” the older man placed a reassuring hand on the younger one’s shoulder, “But its gonna get better; you’ll see. You’re even already learning to shoot again.” He gave 10k a proud smile, but the boy just shook his head slightly. 

“It’s not the same.”

“No, it’s not. But eight years into the Zompocalypse, nothing really is. You’ll still fit in just fine.” 

“Yeah...” the younger man said, though it was clear he was no longer really paying attention to the conversation. 

Doc decided not to push farther, not wanting to upset the kid any more than he clearly already was, and let the conversation slip away into silence.   
_______________

It was a two day trip, and they ran out of fuel after a day. “Well, Kid, looks like we’re walking,” Doc said and 10k nodded, attaching the prosthetic to were his hand had been and grabbing his gun as he opened the car door. 

Since the kid had found the group again, Doc had been focused on tending to his wound, but now as he looked the boy over he noticed that there was more to be concerned with than just his hand.   
There were dark circles under his eyes, not unlike the time three years ago when he was under Murphy’s control, and he looked thinner than normal; of course he’d always been fairly thin, but this seemed different, almost sickly. 

“Hey, you sure you’re feeling okay?” Doc asked and 10k squirmed under his watchful gaze. 

“I’m fine, Doc. My hand just hurts.”

“Well let me take a look at it, then. We don’t want that getting infected again,” the man stopped walking, reaching out and placing his hand on the boy’s forehead. The boy ducked away, but Doc could already tell he didn’t have fever; thank god for small favors.   
“...You know you can always talk to me, right Kid?”

“I know, Doc.” 10k gave the older man a slight smile that began to fade almost as quickly as it had appeared, “But I’m fine. Really.”

“I don’t think you are. You look exhausted, sick even, so I need you to tell me what’s going on. I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.” 

“You really want to know what’s wrong with me?” 

“Yeah, I do.”

10k stopped walking and looked at the older man. “I’ve lost almost everything, Doc. I can’t even shoot like I used to. ...And every time I close my eyes all I see are zombies that I’m not able to kill, o-or Murphy. He’s still always there in the back of my mind. I can’t get rid of him.”

There was anger in his voice, though of course it wasn’t anger for Doc, and tears sprung to his eyes as he mentioned what he saw when he tried to sleep.   
The older man quickly pulled the younger into a tight hug, which 10k gratefully accepted as he wrapped his arms around Doc. His breaths were shallow, almost panicked, and he was shaking slightly. 

“Shhh... I got you, Kid. It’s okay.”

10k shook his head a little as he tightened his arms around his self-appointed guardian. “I’m just... so tired, Doc.”

“I know you are. That’s why we gotta get back to Limbo, you can rest up there — and get some food in you, ‘cause you haven’t been eating, either, have you?” It was more of a statement than a question. 

10k pulled away to look at Doc and shook his head a little in response to the man’s question. “No...” he said, a tinge of guilt in his voice, which was quickly replaced with anxiety as he continued, “But I don’t want to go back there. Murphy—“

“—Murphy isn’t going to be the only one there — I wouldn’t leave you alone with him. I’ll be there, and so will Addy.”

The young man sighed defeatedly, everyone else had seemed to forgive Murphy for what he had done in the past, but 10k just couldn’t. He couldn’t trust the man after all he’d, and even though he didn’t want to admit it, it hurt that Doc had become friendly with Murphy again. 

“Hey,” Doc said gently, as if reading the boy’s mind, “You always come first; and if there was anywhere else to go, we’d go there. But Limbo is the only safe place for us right now, so that’s where we gotta go. ...And if Murphy gets out of hand we can always let the Talkers eat his brain.” 

He managed to get a slight laugh from 10k with the last bit, and the young man wrapped his arms around the older again with a quiet “Thanks, Doc.”

“I’ll always be here for you, Kid,” Doc said as he returned the hug, gently patting the boy on the back. 

They continued on walking for a short time after that, neither saying another word, though Doc was deep in thought. Evidently the trauma 10k had experienced over the past eight years was finally catching up to him, and Doc wasn’t entirely sure how to help. 

They made it to Limbo the next day, having stopped for the night before to get some rest. ...Or rather, Doc got some rest while 10k lie awake, staring up at the stars and absentmindedly playing with the bandage wrapped around his wound, which only left him more exhausted. 

“Well look what the apocalypse dragged in,” Murphy said as he opened the door for the two men. The club was empty except for Murphy and Addy, the dark, red lights replaced by sunlight.   
“Geez, Kid,” he continued, looking over 10k, “You look like a Talker.”

“And you look like the Devil, so I guess we’ve both got problems.”

Addy laughed from where she was sitting across the room and Doc rolled his eyes as he put his arm around the boy’s shoulders, “Leave him alone, Murphy.”

Doc lead the young man over to where Addy was sitting at one of the tables, sitting him in a chair next to her while Murphy rolled his eyes and closed the door. 

“Really, though,” Addy said as she took in the boy’s appearance, “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, just tired.”

“Come here,” Addy said, standing and pulling 10k up with her by the arm. She pulled him over to a sofa in a far corner of the large room and sat him down. “You should get some sleep. You need to be ready to fight in case anyone comes looking for the Talkers.”

“Addy... I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. We’ll work together, just like last time.” 

“No, I mean I can’t sleep.”

“...Oh,” she said with realization as she sat next to him and placed a hand on his back, “Well Doc and I aren’t going anywhere. And I’ll wake you up if you start having a nightmare. ...Just like I always did for Lucy.”

She became quiet, then, as she looked down at the floor, and it was 10k’s turn to put a comforting hand on her back. He hadn’t gotten to know Lucy like she had, but in the short time he had spent with her, he’d gotten to liking her. She wasn’t like Murphy — in fact she had had the same distain for the man that he did — and she’d been close to Warren, too, which was a good sign. 

“...I miss her, too.”

“You do?” There was surprise in the young woman’s voice as she turned to look at her friend. 

“Yeah. She wasn’t like him. She actually cared about people. Especially you and Warren. ...I mean she cared a lot about zombies, too... But she really cared about you.”

Addy laughed slightly, “Yeah, she really loved zombies. I guess she wasn’t so far off on what they’re like after all. ...Now sleep; I promise I’ll wake you up if you look like you’re having a nightmare.” She stood up and he laid down. 

“...Thanks, Addy,” he mumbled, already beginning to drift off. 

She smiled sadly down at him and nodded slightly, “Any time.”

She made her way over to the table where Doc and Murphy were now sitting and sat down. “Is he okay?” she asked Doc. 

“Honestly? I don’t know. He’s working through a lot of stuff — not just the hand thing; that was just the thing that kinda threw him over the edge.” He gave Murphy a pointed look. 

“Why’re you looking at me like that? I didn’t cut off his hand!”

“No, but you did brainwash him.”

“What, that? He’s still upset about that whole thing? That was three years ago!”

“You took away his free will, Murphy!”

“And I think he’s scared you’re gonna do it again now that he’s in a... vulnerable state,” Addy said. She didn’t have the same anger that Doc did, but there was something akin to it present in her eye. 

“Well I’m not; he was too much trouble last time, anyway. But what is so bad about being bitten by me? Lucy bit you, and I don’t hear you complaining about it.”

“Because I told her to!” now the anger was present in her voice, “I told her to bite me so that I could survive and so that if we were separated we could still communicate. She never even tried to control me! —And yes, I do know that, because 10k told me what it felt like when you controlled him and I never felt that with Lucy.”

Murphy stared at her for a moment in stunned silence but before he could fully process what she had said, she spoke again, “You said you felt her in me when I got here; that’s because she and I were connected. She became my family and I protected her while you ran away to Zona—“

“—I thought she was dead!”

“Well now she is; thanks to you. ...But 10k’s not. And I’m gonna protect him like I should have with Lucy. I’m not gonna let you hurt him again.” 

She stood up from the table and made her way over to where 10k was still asleep, ignoring Doc’s calls of “Addy. Addy, hang on a minute!”

“...She’s right,” Murphy said quietly, watching Addy go. 

“Maybe. But Lucy made her decision. She didn’t have to save you.”

“That supposed to make me feel better?”

Doc sighed, “I don’t know. It’s just the truth.”  
______________

Addy sat down on the floor in front of the sofa, feeling tears spring to her eye. She’d been successfully distracting herself from the grief she was feeling for some time now by helping the Talkers, but now she felt it like waves crashing over her, drowning her.   
She covered her mouth with her hands, muffling her quiet sobs so as not to wake 10k. She figured he was already experiencing enough of his own grief without having to see hers. 

She realized after a couple of minutes that she wasn’t hearing only her own whimpering, but 10k’s, as well. She turned around and saw he was still sleeping, fitfully now, and she quickly shook his shoulder, whispering “10k, it’s okay. Wake up.”

He woke with a start, jolting upright. “Wha—?” he asked before noticing the young woman sitting in front of him, a worried expression on her face, “Addy?”

“You were having a nightmare.”

“Oh... thanks. —Are you okay?” he added, noticing the tear track down her cheek. 

“I’m fine. Just...”

“...Yeah. Me too.”

They sat quietly for a minute before Addy spoke, “Can I take a look at it?”

“At what?”

“You’re...” she trailed off, gesturing at his bandaged arm. 

“...Oh. Uh, yeah. Sure.” He held it out to her and she gently unwrapped it. 

“It doesn’t actually look that bad, but we should pour some alcohol on it so it doesn’t get infected again. Come on,” she added, pulling him up and leading him over to the bar at the back of the room. 

She found a bottle of vodka and uncapped it, taking a few gulps of it before holding it out to 10k. He gave her a slightly confused look and she smiled a little. “Trust me, you’re gonna want it. It’s gonna hurt like hell when we clean that wound. ...But this time of you puke, can you try and get some on Murphy?” 

He let out a quiet laugh and took the bottle, taking a few swigs of it before handing it back to Addy. “Yeah. Next time I’ll get all my puke on Murphy.”

“Good boy,” Addy said with a slight laugh, clapping him on the back and taking the bottle, “Now let’s clean you up.”

He held out his no longer bandaged arm over the sink behind the bar and Addy poured some of the vodka over the wound. 10k sucked in a sharp breath when the liquid touched his skin and clenched his fist. 

“I know,” Addy said, “I’m sorry. It’s almost done.” She finished cleaning the wound and wrapped a fresh bandage around it with a quiet “There. That should keep it from getting infected.”

“Thanks, Addy.”

She gave him a smile, “Any time. Now, you wanna try to sleep again?”

“No. All I see every time I try to sleep is zombies. Or 5k, or Sarge, or... Cassandra... I just can’t. Not right now.”

“I get it,” she put a gentle hand on his shoulder, “How about something to eat? You look like you haven’t been eating.”

“It’s the apocalypse. No one’s eating.”

“Yeah, but you look even worse than the normal apocalypse not-eating.”

“...What?”

Addy sighed, “I don’t know. I haven’t been sleeping either. Let’s just eat something.”

He smiled slightly and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders for a second before bending down and rummaging through the cupboards. “A few Bizkits... and cherries? Eight years of apocalypse, but Murphy has a jar of maraschino cherries?”

“It’s Murphy.”

“...Good point. Well, these are the the only edible thing in here for a living person... so I guess this is dinner.” She straightened up and held the jar up in front of her, earning something between a smile and a grimace from 10k. “Come on,” she continued, linking her right arm with his left one and getting a confused look from him, “let’s go sit down.”

“...But—“

“I’ll handle Murphy.” 

10k nodded slightly in response as she lead him over to the table where Doc and Murphy were still sitting. Addy sat the boy down next to Doc, moving to sit on the other side of him and giving Murphy a glare, which made him squirm slightly. She reminded him too much of Lucy. 

“Hey, Kid. You feeling any better?” Doc asked 10k, concern coming through his casual demeanor. 

The young man shrugged and gave a small nod, “Yeah, a little.”

“Good,” Doc said as he placed a hand on 10k’s shoulder, “That’s good.”

“Yeah, you sound real convinced,” Murphy said, and Doc shot him a disapproving look, tightening his grip on 10k’s shoulder. 

“Here,” Addy said, passing the jar of cherries to 10k. 

“What’s that?” Doc asked, taking a closer look as 10k took a couple and passed the jar to the older man, “Cherries?”

Addy let out a slightly condescending “Mmhm,” while she gave Murphy an accusing look. 

“I run a bar!”

“It’s eight years into the apocalypse; where did you even get these?”

“...They were already here.”

“Uh huh. Sure. Look, I don’t even care where you got them, but you got anything else edible for a living person?”

“You can look and see if there’re any olives,” he said with a slight smirk, making Addy roll her eye. “Are you two going to share?” he added, glancing at Doc and 10k. 

“Catch,” 10k said, pulling a cherry out of the jar and throwing it at Murphy. 

It hit him in the face and he glared at the young man who was barely trying to suppress a laugh, though he seemed to shrink a little under Murphy’s glare. “Very mature.” 

Addy and Doc shared a look of amusement mixed with concern for the boy sitting between them. 

“...How about a game of poker?” Doc asked. 

“Never learned how to play,” 10k responded. 

“Never?”

The boy shrugged and Doc clapped him on the back, “Then I have failed as your self appointed guardian.”

10k smiled a little, almost embarrassed, and Addy laughed. “Well, better late than never.”

The three looked expectantly at Murphy, who sighed and pulled a deck of cards out of his jacket. “Don’t think I’m going to go easy on you just because you don’t know what you’re doing,” he said and 10k rolled his eyes. 

“I would never expect that of you, Murphy.”

“But no cheating,” Doc said, giving Murphy a stern look. 

“Yeah, at least until we teach 10k how to cheat,” said Addy with a smirk as she placed a hand on the young man’s shoulder. 

It was good to see the boy smile again, even if he was just being briefly distracted from the pain he was in; and she thought maybe they all needed that distraction from the apocalypse. They’d all lost a lot, but somehow they still had each other... even Murphy, and it felt good to be together again as the little family they’d become.   
She exchanged a knowing smile with Doc before turning her attention back to the center of the table and picking up the deck of cards to shuffle them.


End file.
